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☆ FARC dissidents and Colombian government reach agreement to begin peace talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 9 (Reuters) - Colombia's government has reached an agreement to begin peace talks with a faction of dissident Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels who rejected a 2016 peace agreement, according to a statement. The statement called for an "integral, stable, and lasting peace with social and environmental justice." Another rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), which was not part of the 2016 deal, is currently in talks with Petro's government. The parties announced in June that a six-month ceasefire will begin in August. Reporting and writing by Anna-Catherine Brigida; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Gustavo Petro, Anna, Catherine Brigida, Mark Porter Organizations: Revolutionary Armed Forces, Estado Mayor Central, Twitter, Colombian government's, Peace, National Liberation Army, Thomson Locations: Colombia

☆ Colombia and ELN guerrillas agree to six-month ceasefire
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Stefano Pozzebon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Bogota, Colombia CNN —The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) – one of the oldest and largest guerrilla groups still operating in the country – have agreed to implement a bilateral, six-month ceasefire starting on August 3. Cuba, Mexico, Norway, and Venezuela have acted as “guarantors” for the peace talks, as well as the United Nations and the Colombian Catholic church. The third round of peace negotiations between the Colombia's and the ELN in Havana on May 2, 2023. The ELN is still present in large swathes of the Colombian countryside and operates a military force of several thousand men according to military analysts and the Colombian military forces. Last week, Petro’s chief of staff Laura Sarabia and the Colombian ambassador to Venezuela, Armando Benedetti, both resigned amid mutual accusations of wiretapping.

Persons: Gustavo Petro, Miguel Diaz, guerre ‘ Antonio García, ”, Yamil Lage, ‘ Pablo Beltrán, ’, Ivan Duque, Petro, Laura Sarabia, Armando Benedetti Organizations: Colombia CNN, Colombian, National Liberation Army, Cuban, United Nations, Colombian Catholic, Getty, Revolutionary Armed Forces, FARC, European Union Locations: Bogota, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Havana, Norway, AFP, Colombian, United States

☆ Colombian Amazon plane crash: children's plight is the latest in a long list of air travel mishaps
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Stefano Pozzebon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The three adults onboard, including the pilot and the children’s mother, Magdalena Mucutuy, died in the crash. Calderon dismisses the idea that his job is particularly high risk, but he concedes flying in the Colombian Amazon is not for the faint hearted. Soldiers stand next to the wreckage of a plane during the search for child survivors on May 19, 2023. Moreover, this type of older airplanes are often the most apt to operate in the limited infrastructure of the airfields in the Colombian Amazon. This year the Colombian government budgeted the equivalent of over $200 million to boost airports across the Amazon region over the next 30 years, and to open eight new commercial flight routes Amazon region.

CNN —As the Colombian military frantically searches for four children missing after a jungle plane crash over two weeks ago, new details are emerging about the plane’s history – and local concerns over the safety of air travel in that part of the Amazon. Colombian Military Forces/ReutersIndigenous activists who mourned the deaths in a statement earlier this week said the crash was no surprise, accusing airline companies operating in the Amazon of chasing profits and the Colombian government of failing to uphold safety standards. Speaking to CNN, OPIAC president Julio Cesar Lopez pointed out that the ill-fated plane had previously crashed in the same region, on July 25, 2021. The report states that the plane was built in 1982 and, prior to the 2021 crash, had accumulated over 10 thousand flight hours. Relatives say the children knew the jungle well, and are holding out hope that they will be found alive.

☆ Colombia jungle plane crash: Government official hopeful children found alive in jungle 17 days after plane crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Mia Alberti Stefano Pozzebon Jennifer Deaton | Mia Alberti | Stefano Pozzebon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —A Colombian government official is “very confident” four children were found alive 17 days after their plane crashed in the Amazon jungle but is awaiting further proof. The Director of Colombia’s Family Affairs Institute, Astrid Caceres, said her team received second hand confirmation that search teams rescued and identified the children missing following the crash of a small airplane in southern Colombia. While the children were found alive, Aerocivil said they found another three bodies inside the small aircraft. President Petro said news of the rescue was “a joy for the country.”“After arduous searching by our military, we have found alive the four children who went missing after a plane crash in Guaviare. A joy for the country,” Petro tweeted earlier on Thursday.

Exxon has held eight exploration and production contracts in Colombia, including the fracking pilot. All either have been or are being ended, suspended or liquidated, Colombia's National Hydrocarbon Agency (ANH) told Reuters. The proposed bill would ban development of non-conventional energy projects including fracking. "We will continue to have constructive dialogue with the Colombian government on a comprehensive assessment of our unconventional investments," Exxon spokesperson Michelle Gray told Reuters. Exxon said it continuously evaluates and prioritize investments, including those in Colombia.

☆ Biden to discuss Venezuela sanctions with Colombia's Petro in White House talks -official
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Matt Spetalnick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Colombia's President Gustavo Petro speaks on the day of a presentation of the labor reform that his government wants to carry out, in Bogota, Colombia March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Luisa GonzalezWASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will tell Colombian President Gustavo Petro in White House talks on Thursday that he is willing to further ease sanctions on Venezuela only in return for concrete steps toward free elections there, a senior administration official told Reuters. The White House talks are aimed at renewing historically strong ties between Washington and Bogota and charting a new relationship with Colombia’s first leftist president. Since taking office, Biden has eased some U.S. sanctions on OPEC-member Venezuela to encourage dialogue. “Unilateral lifting of sanctions," the official said on condition of anonymity, "will line the pockets of people who have already stolen billions of dollars from Venezuela ...

☆ FARC dissident group says to start peace talks with Colombian government in May
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Julia Symmes Cobb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BOGOTA, April 16 (Reuters) - Dissident FARC rebels who rejected a landmark peace agreement in 2016 said on Sunday they are ready to set up a dialogue with the government on May 16 to begin peace talks to bring their group, the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), out of the armed conflict. The group, made up of 3,530 people - 2,180 combatants and 1,350 auxiliaries - has maintained a bilateral ceasefire with the Colombian government since the beginning of the year. The other dissident FARC faction is the Segunda Marquetalia, which in August 2019 returned to the armed struggle, claiming that the state failed to comply with the peace agreement. Petro's government reestablished peace talks with the rebels of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the two parties seek to advance towards a bilateral ceasefire agreement in a third round of talks to begin soon in Cuba. Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb, Additional reporting by Nelson Bocanegra Editing by Drazen Jorgic and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Morgan Stanley reveals its 8 favorite stocks ahead of Europe's earnings season
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Morgan Stanley has named eight stocks to buy ahead of a hotly anticipated earnings season in Europe. Morgan Stanley says: "We expect the stock to rally into earnings, due in early March. Morgan Stanley says: "Teleperformance shares have been under scrutiny since November following the outbreak of negative news flow around its Content Moderation in Colombia. More importantly none of this news flow alters the fundamental growth and earnings profile of the company." Morgan Stanley says: "Elis offers resilient GDP+ growth through the cycle, which is expected to be structurally higher post COVID (driven by increased demand for hygiene, reliability, accountability and ESG)."

REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez ViloriaCARACAS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group said on Saturday they will resume peace talks in Mexico next month, overcoming a recent impasse after the government recently declared and then called off a bilateral ceasefire. There was a first cycle of talks last year in Caracas to end the guerrillas' part in nearly six decades of war. The about-face on the ceasefire came after ELN said it had not agreed to it. "In said cycle, the issue of society's participation in peace building will be addressed. Colombia and the ELN said they would jointly examine progress in implementing agreements reached during the first cycle of talks and agreed to keep communication channels open even when not at the negotiating table.

☆ Colombia announces ceasefire with five illegal armed groups
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BOGOTA, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a leftist and former guerrilla, announced late on Saturday a January ceasefire with five illegal armed groups to support peace talks. Petro has pledged to end the Andean nation's internal conflict, which has run for almost six decades and left at least 450,000 dead between 1985 and 2018. "The bilateral ceasefire obliges the armed organizations and the state to respect it. Among the groups are leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) as well as dissident groups run by former members of the now-demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Segunda Marquetalia and Estado Mayor Central. The government added that it would issue a specific decree for each of the organizations, which will determine the durations and conditions of the ceasefire.

☆ Colombia ELN leftist guerrilla group declares Christmas ceasefire
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez ViloriaBOGOTA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Colombian leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN) on Monday declared a nine-day unilateral ceasefire over the Christmas period, as part of a bid to support peace talks with the Andean country's government, which urged other illegal armed groups to follow suit. Colombia's government and the ELN last week completed the first cycle of peace talks between the two parties in Venezuela's capital Caracas. The unilateral ceasefire will only apply to Colombia's military and police, the ELN said in a recorded statement, adding it reserves the right to defend itself if attacked. Following the announcement, Colombia's government called on other armed groups also to call a ceasefire. Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra and Oliver Griffin Writing by Oliver Griffin Editing by Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pablo Escobar was gunned down 29 years ago today — here are 3 theories about who took the Medellin kingpin's life
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

By 1993, Colombian authorities, the US government, and rival criminals were all after Pablo Escobar. "Perseguidos por Pablo Escobar," or People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar — known as Los Pepes — was made up of rival drug traffickers, paramilitaries, and others scorned by the Medellín cartel boss. His son, Juan Pablo Escobar Henao, who has changed his name to Sebastián Marroquín, has insisted that his father took his own life on that Medellín rooftop. "I have no doubt" that Pablo Escobar planned his own death, Marroquín said in a 2014 interview. The question of who killed Pablo Escobar is likely to go unresolved, probably by design.

☆ Colombia wants Biden admin. to grant temporary legal status to its citizens in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia wants the Biden administration to grant temporary legal status to its citizens now living in the United States, noting its own efforts to address regional migration by hosting 2 million Venezuelans who fled their homes. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, he asks President Joe Biden to grant Colombians already in the U.S. a form of temporary status called Deferred Enforced Departure. It is unclear how many Colombians are living in the United States without legal status. Murillo Urritia said there are nearly 2 million Colombians living in the United States, without elaborating on their immigration status. The Biden administration has extended temporary status for some countries and added Afghanistan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Cameroon and Venezuela, reversing a Trump-era trend to cut back on protections for those already in the United States.

☆ Venezuela's long-suffering manufacturers face new challenge: Colombian imports
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Deisy Buitrago | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The change opens Venezuela to more imports from its neighbor as domestic manufacturers are still struggling, though some got a boost from a de facto dollarization. Tini's company Full Time, one of Venezuela's largest shoe manufacturers, is set to increase production to 20,000 pairs this year from 12,000 in 2021, but imports worry him. Local industries "cannot compete on equal terms with Colombian products," said Luigi Pisella, president of Conindustria, one of the top business associations representing Venezuela's manufacturers. Between January and August this year, the Colombian government's DANE statistics agency valued the country's exports to Venezuela at some $400 million while Venezuelan imports to Colombia were just $56 million. Business people said there are few incentives for manufacturers, high taxes and not enough efforts to combat inflation.

☆ Cuba shouldn't be on sponsor of terrorism list, former U.S. officials say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Ed Augustin | Ed Augustin Is A British Journalist Based In Havana Who Has Written For The New York Times | The Guardian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

HAVANA — Along with Iran, Syria and North Korea, Cuba is listed as a “state sponsor of terrorism” by the U.S. Department of State. Cuba has called the sponsor of terrorism designation "illegitimate and immoral," arguing that it deprives it of financing and credit sources. “‘Cuba is not a state sponsor of terrorism’ was a mantra from the moment I walked into the State Department to the moment I walked out,” he said. Throughout the 1980s, Cuba shared intelligence with, trained and apparently supplied weapons to revolutionary movements fighting military dictatorships in Central America. Cuba will once again be a “guarantor state.”The Biden administration has provided no evidence that Cuba sponsors terrorism.

☆ An unusual startup is looking to raise $20 million to turn coca leaves into the next trendy wellness ingredient
▼ + stars: | 2022-04-06 | by ( Jeremy Berke | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The coca leaves will be used to produce an energizing extract for food and beverage products. Coca leaves, minus the cocaine, could become the next hot wellness trend. Power Leaves is targeting a direct listing on the NasdaqPower Leaves raised a $5.4 million seed round in January, valuing the startup at just under $20 million, McCutcheon said in an interview. Power Leaves Corp. Power Leaves has a 15-year agreement with the Resguardo community to source coca leaves, the investor deck said.

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